Freight-car.



hunted Dem, 4L, 19H7;`

2 SHEETS-SHEET l IW/W/vr:

- 0. NEIMRK.-

- FREIGHT GAR.Y

APPLICATION FILED FEB. lh-19171 @dan hl .ironia o, NEIKIRK, or noi/mann, lrnnnors, `Assrencue 'rononenn -innnnas'r can 1 convenir, acoaronerion eri/Lerne.

type of carand simplifyits construction7 .to .increase its carrying-capacity and t0 adapt the car for various kinds of utility. These and other 'objects will `more Aii'ullyappear in the description hereafter.

ln the ,drawings which show` an "exempliication of my improved ucar, Figure V1`is a longitudinal section cfa portion oflthe car. Fig. 2 is a cross secticnon the :line 2-`2 olf Fig. l. Fie. 3 is a plan view. '.lig. his a. cross section showing modified ar rangement.

l`he great increase in the transportation olf freight during recent years has necessitated the adoption by railr ads of cars oi" much larger carrying capacity than were formerly in use. Fifty tons is new practically the normal capacity of most freight cars, and the tendency vis to increase this capacity to seventy tons, even in some instances to ninety tons. This increase has required Va much heavier type 'of equipment, not only in cars but in locomotives, so that it is novs7 common `practice to haul long trains of -these heavily `loaded cars 4over the roads. This has necessitated reconstruction oi the roadbed and requires constant attention to keep the roadbed in proper-condition.

By my invention, l seekto provide a `car Which shall have the required strength, which Will carry `a `greater lading' Without increase in the size of the car, or `which will carry normal lading in a car of shorter length and to provide a car Which `may readily be adapted to discharge its load `practically automatically, and Ato discharge'fthe load in such a Way as to Amake the fear useful for ballast and `construction Work.

Inthe drawings, Atindicates the center sill oit the lcar.` ln vrthe exempliiication ot my `invention shown, this isfthe steel longitudinal member o` the underframe, andtalres thesevere huflifing and pulling strains which. modern practice imposes upon cars of Ithis `SG 'MQ ille cross membersattacheel 1,0 Ythe center sill, and Leat the sides et the ear.'

ing theref-rom4 :to here `aanper While with improved Patented Deer/ll, l-ll lt@ appucatioaaieeFebruary 1a 191'?. semaine. reame.

Of these cross'` members between the bfly bolsters. `C indicates the body holsters, D indicates the sides ofthe car, shown in this lnstance as `plate girder sides, which carry the load imposed upon the car andftranSlIlt itto the holsters. These load carrying, members are Vof sufficient strength toV take the Vheavy burdens imposed upon cars of this top and bottoni of this sill are in parallel horizontal planes. `Cllhe lower edgesfof the cross sills are also substantially in the horizontal plane as the lov-Fer edge of the center sill. The same is true ot thelower edge of the plate girder sides. By means of this construction Vl am enabled to use girder sides of maximum depth and olf correspondingly great strength without increasing the height oit the car sides. lhis is an important feature as will be hereinafter pointed ont. The floor of the car between the end sills and the cross sill adjacent the trucks is formed of horizontal plates E attached to the upper sides of the holsters, end sills, and adjacent cross sill. The entire licor of the car between the trucks is termed ohorizontalplates F attached 'to the under edges of the center sills and underframe members. By means vof `this construction l have provided a car in Which the center of `gravity is lowered, thus making the car safer and `less liable to derail'ment, and I have increased the load .carrying` capacity of t'hecar very materially. For example, 4a `forty one foot general service gondola car has a normal `capacity of approximately lift-y 4tons with an' overload capacity of fifty "five tons, ivhilea forty `one fleet car withtheilolor arranged #as-herein described has a carrying capacity of approximately -sixtyfour #tons with lan overload capacity'` of Anearly seventy tens. "lhat iis tosay,the `iear-ry'ingcapacity lef the same leiligth lcarvis greatly '.inci'eased,

nist tion ny a loacllozt tons with vetver- `ordene te all@ 1a chain and winding shaft, it being underload of fifty five tons, it is possible to decrease the length of the4 car from forty one feet to. approximately thirty four feet six inches. This saving is of great importance both in the cost of construction, in the sav-y ing of weight to be hauled, and in the saving in the length of trains. v

In order to rapidly discharge the load, the

lioor of the car between the trucks may, in?

stead of being rigidly attached to the under side of the underi'rame, be made in the form of doors as indicated byF in Fig. 1 of the drawing. These doors would extend the full length of the space between the cross `sills adjacent the trucks and may be hinged at or near the center sill, as indicated in Fig.

4, extending out Vto the sides of the car.

Any suitableft'orm of' operating device may be employed forY opening and closing the doors. I have indicated diagrammatically stood that the chain and winding shaft will be operated by any of the well known mechanisms attached to the end of the winding shaft. I prefer a mechanism such as shown in Meissner Patent No. 716,075 dated December`l6th, 1902, by means of which the descent of theV doors may be controlled.

.301 YPrior to my invention, it has been cus- `known as generalr service cars to the upper tomary to hinge the doors of what are 'edges of the center sill, or adjacent thereto. Owing to the necessary presence of the cross members in cars of this type, it has been necessary in these general yservice cars to employ a door between the adjacent cross Vmembers so that the ioor of the car has con- 'sisted of a number of doors extending either package freight as well as rails, billets, or, i

in fact, any material which may be car- ,v ried in a gondola car, it has sometimes happened that extremely heavy concentrated yloads have been placed upon the doors of these general service cars, which doors and mechamsm for operating them yhave not been especially designed for carrying such 'y 55 loads. l l

It will be noted that in my improved car ,the undertramel members between the trucks are exposed so that a concentrated load will *not be placed uponrthe horizontal floor of the carbetween the trucks, kbut such load vwill rest upon the upper: surface Vof the 1 underframey members.

Owing to the posi- A tion of the doors and their hinges, I am enloadmaybe discharged to greater advantage than in the general service cars hitherto used in which the doors are hinged on the upper side oi' the center sill, since with doors hinged as hereinbei'ore described a door' 'of the same length will discharge its load entirely outside the rails. My car is thus especially well adapted for depositlng the ballast at the sides of the track, or for depositing coal through the side openings in trestles.

Another advantage oi the construction herein described whether with the doors or with the fixed bottom is, that a girder side of maximum depth and corresponding strength may be used without increasing the height of the car side. This is of special importance in cars in which the doors are used, since in general service cars 1n which the doors are hingedto the top of the center sill it has been necessary that the lower edge of the car side should be in substantially the same plane as the top of the center sill in order to afford a suilicient opening for the discharge of material. With my improved construction I provide the same size of opening and at the same time enable the lower edge of the side to be brought down to Asubstantially the level of the lower edge of the center sill.

A further advantage of my car is, that by placing the floor beneath the underframe between the trucks, I am enabled to use doors extending the entire length of the space between the trucks in place of using a door between adjacent cross sills. This reduces the leakage of iine material to a minimum. These and other advantages of my improved construction will be apparent to those skilled in the art. vWhile I have shown and described one exempliication of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting my invention beyond what is claimed.

What I claim is:

1. A car of the class described having an underframe comprising a center sill taking the draft and buffing strains, cross members extending from the center sill to the car sides, a substantially horizontal floor for vsaid car extending between the trucks, said iioorconsisting of a single door on each side of the` center sill hinged to the center sill below the cross members and extending from the center sill entirely beneath at least one of the cross members and toward the sides y of the car.

said car, that portion of the Hoor interabledto construct a car through which the mediate the trucks being in a. lower plane 1,248,890 Y mi termediate portion being connected to the center sill and extending therefrom entirely beneath at least one of the cross members and toward the ear sides.

3. A ear of the class described having an underframe comprising a center' ""s'ill taking the draft and bniing strains, cross members extending from the center sill to the car sides, substantially horizontal floor portions lo extending over the trucks, an intermediate entirely beneath at least one of the cross 15 members and toward the ear sides.

JOHN o. NnnriRK.

Witness CHARLIE HITTS.

@omet el? tlhdlm patent moy he obtained for me cento each, by addressing the Gommissloner or Potente, Wmehinton, l2. 

